


Coming Out

by Yevynaea



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Asexual Natasha Romanov, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Crack, Fluff, Gen, Multi, Self-Indulgent, and fitz is also genderfluid because of reasons, because i refuse to believe any the the avengers are straight, but anyway i hope you enjoy natasha threatening a fox news reporter, genderqueer darcy lewis, i know i suck at titles i know, implied genderfluid jemma simmons, this is literally just an "all your faves are queer" fic, this is obviously influenced heavily by my own shipping preferences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 18:59:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1994211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yevynaea/pseuds/Yevynaea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers and Company are not straight. Like there are literally no heterosexuals in their friend group except /maybe/ Rhodey. The media gets wind of this fact and to get nosy reporters to leave them alone the Avengers decide to formally come out. It's pretty great.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming Out

It happens eight months after the fall of SHIELD, seven months after a half-recovered Bucky finds Steve and Sam where they're searching for him in Russia, seven months after the Avengers and company all officially move into the tower, six months after Coulson shows up with a new team and declares his new job as Director and rebuilder of SHIELD, and five months after the press release during which the Avengers officially announce the additions of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier to the team.

During all those months, and the following five, there have been super villain attacks, Hydra bases to destroy, alleged Loki sightings, (although Thor swore his brother was dead) SHIELD missions for Coulson's team, and some moments of peace in between. It's during one of those moments that Steve takes Bucky on a date, and there are trending photos of them on twitter and tumblr by the time they return to the tower.

A day two weeks after that is when it happens. Bucky takes Steve on their second date, and the two of them are swamped with reporters and paparazzi when they exit the art museum.

"Sergeant Barnes!" One tabloid reporter shouts, and Bucky has to give her credit for calling him by his name and not 'Winter Soldier'. "Can you confirm the rumors that you and Captain Rogers are in a romantic relationship?"

Bucky glances at Steve, who nods discreetly without even glancing back. Bucky smirks at the reporter and wraps an arm around Steve, pulling the other man closer.

"I can, in fact, confirm those rumors." Bucky says cockily, planting an exaggerated kiss on Steve's cheek. Steve laughs and pushes Bucky away, but reaches for Bucky's hand at the same time and holds it tight while cameras flash and people yell over each other trying to be heard. Steve points to a man who's waving his arm frantically, trying to get their attention.

"Do your teammates know about your relationship? And how does it feel to be the only LGBTQ members of the Avengers?" The man asks them once the crowd has quieted down. Bucky really isn't sure what the man expects, if he thinks they'll get all serious and talk about their 'troubles', or if he thinks they'll spout something poetic about how supportive their teammates are.

Judging by the reporter's expression, though, what he gets is something he didn't expect. Steve and Bucky both start laughing, Steve loud and hearty, with his head thrown back, Bucky no more restrained than Steve. And the reporter just kind of stands there, confused and unsure what to do next.

"'Only?'" Steve gets out finally. "What makes you think we're the only ones?"

This just sends the paparazzi into even _more_ of a frenzy.

~•~•~•~•~

The Avengers have a press conference in front of the Tower a few days later just so the press will leave them the fuck alone, in the evening just before the sun starts to go down,  and they bring along all their respective non-teammate partners, except Coulson, who didn't want his name or face on television or the internet.

"So this is the worst coming out party I've ever been to." Tony deadpans, starting them off. "I'm gonna plan a real party as soon as we leave here, who wants to come?"

The reporters in the audience cheer at the prospect of being invited to a Tony Stark party.

"Honestly I'm not sure why this was even necessary, seeing as coming out in itself is kinda heteronormative and none of us wanted to advertise our sexualities to all you critics out there," Tony sends a pointed look to a Fox News reporter standing near the back, and waits for the laughter and enraged sputtering to subside. "But Cap here guilt tripped the rest of us, something about representation and teens needing role models, so here we all are to make our private relationships about five hundred percent less private. We'll take your questions now." Tony sits down between Bruce and Pepper and adjusts the microphone in front of him, making it screech. The din of yelling reporters stops, and a few people wince. "Sorry." Tony doesn't sound very sorry.

"Mister Stark, aren't you dating Ms. Potts?" Someone asks before the noise builds back up.

"Mr. Stark and I are in a very happy relationship," Pepper starts, "With Dr. Banner."

And there's the ruckus they were all waiting for. Bruce gives a small, shy wave, blushing a bit when Tony goes to kiss him. Despite being in the superhero business for so long, Bruce still doesn't like being in the public eye.

"And what about the rest of you?" One woman asks when Steve calls on her.

"Can I answer that one?" Sam raises his hand. "I keep up with this stuff. Not that there's really anything to keep up with, you guys' relationships are so steady they're almost boring."

A few people laugh, and everyone on stage nods the go-ahead. Sam takes a deep breath.

"Well, Thor and Jane are a thing which everyone probably already knows. Then there's Pepper, Tony, and Bruce; and Steve and Bucky of course are an item now. Then there's Agents Barton and Romanoff, and another agent previously of SHIELD is with them, and I'm pretty sure they're all already married, but Natasha's said to us before that she's asexual so I'm guessing that's why she breaks into mine or Steve's apartment almost every night when hers and Clint's maybe-husband comes to visit.  Said agent has a team, whose identities will all be kept secret for safety reasons, but I'm pretty sure everyone on that team is dating each other." Sam pauses for breath. "I'm not dating anyone at the moment, thank god."

There's a pause and some laughter before the man from Fox News demands, "Are _any_ of you straight?"

Tony stands up and goes down the line, starting with Sam.

"He's bisexual to the best of my knowledge, Thor doesn't understand why we need labels if we all just like who we like but he seems to be heteroflexible, Doctor Foster has said she's bisexual and she obviously leans toward blond muscular aliens, Jane's best friend Darcy, who isn't currently here, is a demigirl and gray-pansexual, and Widow is asexual.

"Birdbrain over here is pansexual, as am I, Bruce is demi-bisexual, Pepper says she's somewhere between bi and pan, and both Terminator and Capsicle are bisexual as far as I know.

"Plus two members of that SHIELD team are genderfluid, and I'm pretty sure no one on that team is straight either."

Tony looks over everyone again.

"So to answer your question, no, I don't think any of us are heterosexual."

"I'm sure many Americans will be disappointed to hear that." Fox News man says, sounding almost disdainful of them. There's a lot of fist clenching and teeth grinding on the part of the Avengers, and Jane frowns at the man and looks like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t; the spotlight is no more her favorite place than it is Bruce's. Pepper is half-standing in a split second but Natasha beats her to it.

"And _I'm_ sure even more people, especially young people, all over the place will go to sleep tonight feeling better, more validated in their identities,  because of what we've made public today. The Avengers are all members of the GSRM community, and we will not stand for or tolerate any kind of bigotry against other members of that community. Are you perpetuating that bigotry, sir?" It's a thinly veiled threat, and the Fox reporter blanches under Natasha's intimidating stare.

"In fact," Pepper stands, smiling at the crowd. "All of us at Avengers Tower will be attending Pride Fests all over the country this summer, and Tony Stark, through the Maria Stark Foundation, will be donating to LGBT youth homeless shelters all over the world."

The reporters in the crowd are stunned into silence for a second before the applause starts up. They're still clapping when the Avengers and guests leave the stage, except for a few who followed the Fox reporter's example and stormed out after Pepper's announcement.

~•~•~•~•~

"So, we're going to Pride Fest now?" Tony grins at Pepper when everyone is back inside the Tower.

"Yes, we are. I'll start clearing schedules." Pepper grins back.

"I'm not wearing anything with glitter on it." Natasha says. "That can be Clint's job."

"My job is wearing sparkly things now?" Clint asks eagerly.

"No, actually let's make that Tony's job." Steve pipes up with a laugh.

"Good idea." Nat nods with fake thoughtfulness. "We can just dump a _vat_ of glitter on Barton."

"Very funny." Clint shudders. "It'd get _everywhere._ You wouldn't really do that, would you?"

Natasha simply smiles innocently and walks away, leaving Clint frowning and chasing behind her.

"Tasha, please tell me there isn't a vat of glitter in my near future."

"That really depends on what you count as your near future." Natasha says. Clint is the only one not laughing at that.

"Seriously though, you wouldn't dump glitter on my nice glitter-less clothes, right? It'll be in the laundry and everywhere and it'll be awful."

"It will be awful, you're right."

"Tasha!"

"So how about that party?" Tony chimes in. "No reporters are actually invited, I promise."

"JARVIS, do any of us have anything urgent to attend to?" Pepper inquires.

"Not at the moment, Ms. Potts." JARVIS says happily. "Shall I order our usual list of pizzas?"

"Sounds like a plan, J." Tony grins, throwing his arms around Pepper and Bruce and leading everyone to the elevator. "Let's go out on the roof, it's nice out tonight."

"So how much do you guys want to bet we'll be trending by midnight?" Clint asks Bucky and Steve.

"Twenty bucks, it'll happen by nine pm at the latest." Steve replies.

"I give it an hour." Bucky says, and then everyone is making their own bets.

"I think we should put different colored LED lights on the tower, so that the building will look like a rainbow every night." Clint grins, glitter threats apparently forgotten.

"Ooo, no, color changing LED lights, that change to different GSRM flags." Tony waggles his eyebrows.

"That actually sounds kind of awesome." Bruce admits.

"Aye." Thor agrees. "The tower would look most impressive."

"We could probably even have solar panels to power them, the kind that store energy during the day and use it at night." Jane points out, and Tony nods.

"JARVIS?" The engineer prompts.

"I'll look into it, sir." The AI promises.

"Awesome."

**Author's Note:**

> GRSM and GSM, by the way, just mean Gender, Romantic, and Sexual Minorities, or Gender and Sexual Minorities, respectively. Quite a few people (including me) prefer them to LGBT(Q) just because they don't have to be dramatically lengthened to include all of the queer community. ^_^


End file.
